Denton Keys, Rye's All-Colorado pitcher, makes surprising return

You're not going to strike everyone out, his dad had said. So don't try to be a hero. Just make sure you're safe.

As Denton Keys walked toward the mound for the first time in the 2012 season, just four months after tearing his left ACL, MCL and meniscus, applause broke out. The gathered crowd at Central Park in Trinidad, way down south on I-25, an hour and a half past Pueblo, had come to see a run-of-the-mill regular season game.

Then, on April 23, the phone of Rye coach Larry Milligan buzzed. It was Doyle Keys, Denton's father. Denton could pitch this week, he said.

Two days later, Milligan entered Keys in relief. One inning, they'd agreed.

As he walked to the mound, Keys fed off the applause. He was nervous, not because of the knee, but because he wanted to pitch well — just like last year, when he was 11-0 with a 0.86 ERA and 148 strikeouts.

He threw 12 pitches in the inning, and struck out three. Keys came off the field and asked Milligan if he could go another inning. Milligan turned around, asked Doyle Keys, who nodded.

The next inning, Keys threw 14 pitches, and struck out three.

Keys. (Denver Post file)

In between innings, it was the same story, and all parties agreed he could go out for a final inning of work. Keys threw 10 more pitches, and struck out three more batters.

He finished with 27 strikes out of his 36 pitches, but also walked a batter in the outing. So, technically, Keys didn't strike everyone out.

"He'd been working his tail off," Milligan said this week.

See, the plan had always been to be back by May, even before Keys had the operation to repair the ligaments torn during a basketball game in December. But it a well-guarded secret, stored away in the Keys household, and in Rye High School's gymnasium.

"I think up to the point that he threw, no one even knew he was going to throw," Doyle Keys said.

In searching for a surgeon to do the procedure, one of the criteria was that Keys' recovery would take four months instead of the usual six. They found a surgeon who had the desired recovery period — as long as Keys was up to the task of a tough rehab.

"It was upsetting," Keys said of the injury, "but there was nothing to do about it. We just had to get through it and start working."

Initially, the timeline was to be back in time for the postseason. Keys beat even that ambitious return date.

Three months after surgery, Keys was throwing 30-pitch bullpens with his dad in the gym.

It started out tentative, especially because he couldn't get down low enough to pitch at his usual form. They tinkered with having him stay tall, but scrapped the idea after Keys lost velocity and movement on his fastball.

More often, they'd do drills, having him go through the pitching motion without actually throwing a ball.

But for the last three weeks or so, Keys has been throwing like he was in 2011. Well, actually, better than that. His fastball is hitting 91 miles per hour, up from the 86-88 range, and he's using his breaking pitches more effectively.

Because he'd work out twice a day during his recovery, always distinguishing between rehab and a regular workout, the 6-foot-4 Keys now weighs 198 pounds.

It all amounts to bad news for the rest of 2A, of which Rye is the defending champion. The Thunderbolts were arguably the best team in that classification anyway — and now they've added a dominating pitcher who is already attracting major Division I interest. (Arizona, Arizona State and Texas Tech have offered. Kentucky came to practice last week, and Texas, North Carolina and Mississippi State have been in touch.)

At the 2A state tournament, which starts Saturday, Keys will join Creighton-bound senior Nick Highberger (0.36 ERA in 39 innings) atop a rotation that also features Dillion Drury (1.93 in 29) and Tyler Milligan (1.59 in 22).

There's also his bat — Keys went 4-for-6 as a first baseman in district play last week — which joins a lineup averaging more than 14 runs per game.

Rye is 19-1, and owns five wins over 3A teams, as well as 4A Mesa Ridge. (The lone loss came to 4A Pueblo South.) Suffice it to say, the Thunderbolts are favored to repeat in 2A.

"I really believe that we were as good as anyone and would've competed right there with the entire group of them for the state title without him," Milligan said. "Adding him to the list just doesn't hurt."

Keys is scheduled to pitch in today's second game, assuming Rye beats No. 16 Center in the first round. When he takes the ball for the second time this season, he'll do so with a deeper appreciation.

"To an extent, I've had to work harder to play (baseball)," he said, "which makes me love it more."

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